Squadron

This naval history reveals the story of Victorian-era officers and abolitionists who fought the illegal slave trade in the Indian Ocean.

Though the British Empire outlawed the slave trade in 1807, many British ships continued the practice for decades along the eastern coast of Africa. The Royal Navy’s response was to dispatch a squadron charged with patrolling the African coast for rogue slave ships. In Squadron, John Broich tells the story of the four Royal Naval officers who made it their personal mission to end the still-rampant slave trade.

The campaign was quickly cancelled when it began to interfere with the interests of the wealthy merchant class. But in time, a coalition of naval officers and abolitionists forced the British government’s hand into eradicating the slave trade entirely.

Drawing on firsthand accounts and archives throughout the U.K., Broich tells a tale of defiance in the face of political corruption, while delivering thrills in the tradition of high seas heroism. If it weren’t a true story, Squadron would be right at home alongside Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series.